Grafton man convicted of murder and granted parole wants to hunt again

GRAFTON, Ohio - Kevin Bernaciak has been hunting since he was a little boy. In fact, it was on a hunting trip in 1986 that changed his life.

Bernaciak shot and killed a hunter. He was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison.

But he was a model inmate, enrolling in all the programs the prison had to offer. He spent 13 and a half years behind bars. He was granted parole the time he was up for it.

Bernaciak did five years of probation with out incident. He has not been in trouble and trying to get his life back on track. But what he misses the most is hunting.

The problem is that convicted felons are not allowed to own or use a gun. A judge can lift the ban. So he hired attorney Kenneth Lieux, who filed the papers to see if he can get the waiver.

"Society recognizes that people can be rehabilitated. Our view is Kevin is rehabilitated, he has paid his debt to society and has shown that he can be a law abiding citizen,” Lieux said.

They are hoping a decision will be made in the next few weeks.